Research Data Alliance (RDA) is a worldwide organization established in 2013 by the European Commission, the United States Government’s National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Australian Government’s Department of Innovation. The mission of this community-driven organization is to build the social and technical infrastructure to enable open sharing and reuse of data. The fast growing international coordination and collaboration initiative has significant input in the creation of the European Open Science Cloud – EOSC.
European Open Science Cloud is a research infrastructure offering professionals in science and technology a virtual environment with open and seamless services for storage, management, analysis and reuse of research data. The European Open Science Cloud portal was presented on 23 November 2018 in Austria; it unifies the fragmented research ecosystem and encourages the application of research data principles (FAIR Data Principles: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). This environment integrates all the elements of research communication process ranging from peer-review of research, publicising and publication of research results and provides a digital format and user-friendly environment.
We are proud that our University has become one of the institutions which support the activities of the Research Data Alliance. The coordination of the activities of the national Research Data Alliance is based on collaboration among the experts from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Kaunas University of Technology, Vilnius University, the international organization Electronic Information for Libraries – EIFL. The activities of this expert group are targeted on the promotion of research data management in Lithuania, aiming to adapt and implement the recommendations of the Research Data Alliance, improve the legal framework and infrastructure for research, disseminate the advanced research data practise in Lithuania. The work of the expert group is coordinated by the head of the Research Information Department dr Ieva Cesevičiūtė from Kaunas University of Technology.
The research infrastructure development and Open Science promotion activities are not new to our University. From 2009, Kaunas University of Technology is a partner of EC research infrastructure project OpenAIRE. In June, the University has signed OpenAIRE contract and become a part of the European research infrastructure and the European Open Science Cloud. It is gratifying that many years of experience in OpenAIRE project as a national coordinator and input to Open Science activities by assoc. prof. Gintarė Tautkevičienė have been acknowledged and she has become a member of the expert group analysing the sustainability possibilities of the European Open Science Cloud.
